Four districts from west Tamil Nadu have no active Covid-19 cases

Western Tamil Nadu appeared to continue the good show it was putting up in effectively containing the spread of Covid-19. Four out of eight western districts – Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode and Namakkal - do not have even a single active case of Covid-19 as of Sunday. Incidentally, these are the only four districts in the whole of Tamil Nadu without any active cases.
Salem, again in the west did not report any fresh case for the past 11 days and was among the districts with zero active cases till Saturday. But on Sunday, Salem had nine new cases. They were people who returned to the district from Telangana, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. “They were stopped and tested at check posts and immediately quarantined,’’ said a health official, noting that isolating them at the entry point would prevent further spread of the virus in the district.

If four of the districts in west have zero active cases, other districts are not far behind. There is a sharp fall in number of cases in the remaining districts of western region too. Of the 6,900-odd Covid-19 positive cases in the state, only 35 are in the western zone now – 20 in Krishnagiri, nine in Salem, three each in Dharmapuri and Nilgiris.
Lesser links with Koyambedu market and fewer people returning from other states, which contributed to rise in number of cases in other districts, are the primary factors behind dropping of Covid-19 incidence in western TN. Nevertheless, the official machinery has not let its guard and has been maintaining robust mechanism for shielding of borders, testing of people and isolating those with symptoms. On Saturday, state health minister C VIjayabaskar lauded the officials for the containment efforts. “Districts like Erode, Coimbatore, Tirupur and Salem have managed the situation well by putting in place effective containment measures,’’ he said.
Erode district has no new case for 32 days, Coimbatore and Tirupur for 14 and 16 days respectively while Namakkal has not reported any fresh case for nine days. “We are continuing to test people. Around 150 to 300 people are tested every day,’’ said Tirupur collector C Vijayakarthikeyan. In Erode and Coimbatore too about 350 to 400 people are tested every day, mostly those entering the districts from other districts or states.
Erode collector C Kathiravan said they are strictly guarding the district border. “Each and every one entering the district is sent to a quarantine centre and tested. The results come in a day and only after confirming they are negative we send them home,’’ he said.
Even after going home, health staff keep track of them to check once a week if they have developed any symptoms.